Mistra Geopolitics in the spotlight: 2022’s most influential climate conversations

Growing interest from international media

In 2022, researchers from Mistra Geopolitics were frequently cited by both international and Swedish news media. The programme’s researchers made a total of 1,100 appearances in editorial content, with 557 of these being in newspapers and other media outlets, while the remaining were on social media platforms. This represents a 23% increase in media exposure compared to 2021.

The articles, published in Swedish and international news outlets, contributed to a total reach of 672 million potential readers and spanned 25 countries with Sweden at the top. In 2022, more female researchers were cited by media outlets compared to the previous year. Three of the most relevant articles, published in the Economist, the Fiji Sun and by Sveriges Television, are presented below.

The challenge of the age – climate adaptation

The Economist special report, November 2022

The report New Risk Horizons: Sweden’s Exposure To Climate Risk Via International Trade, written by SEI Associate Frida Lager and Magnus Benzie, was cited in the article “The world has to adapt to the climate change it will not avoid”, as part of a special report by The Economist in connection with COP27. The launch of the report led to media exposure around the globe.

The report addresses an emerging and highly topical global challenge: climate risks via global trade. It analyses Sweden’s role in the global trade system and identifies the climate risks Sweden faces due to its international trade relations. Sweden’s most stable trade relations tend to be with countries that are both close to Sweden and resilient to climate change. However, innovative data-driven methods reveal the true extent of Sweden’s dependence on more vulnerable countries – particularly emerging economies in Asia and Africa – that play an increasingly critical role in Swedish supply chains.

Hybrid war and climate change

SVT Agenda, October 2022

Henrik Carlsen, Co-Director of Mistra Geopolitics, appeared on Swedish Television (SVT Agenda) to talk about the Nord Stream gas pipelines, the hybrid war and how Russia can benefit from climate change – especially in terms of agriculture and food supply. In response to the security situation and the attacks on the Nord Stream pipelines during the autumn of 2022, SVT Agenda featured a programme with Henrik Carlsen and other experts from the Swedish Government, including Sweden’s former Foreign Minister Ann Linde (S).

“It is particularly important to have a long-term perspective on these crucial energy transformational issues. Most German politicians are aware of and agree on the fact that climate action is needed. Russia, on the other hand, takes every opportunity to expand their power with any available means, where the energy crisis is one area,” said Carlsen.

In the Russian case, according to Carlsen, climate change could mean that larger areas will be utilized for agriculture and food production. In fact, the Russian climate plan agreed on in January 2022 explicitly says that the country should utilize the future possibility of a more favourable climate for agriculture.

Less talk, more action in climate fight

Fiji Sun, October 2022

Loss and damage have been one of the key issues in the Pacific when it comes to climate change negotiations, wrote the Fiji Sun in a two-page news article, citing Björn-Ola Linnér, Director of Mistra Geopolitics and Professor at Linköping University. The newspaper summarized a two-day high-level workshop on climate adaptation held in Fiji, organized by Mistra Geopolitics and partners. The goal of the workshop, titled Loss and Damage and the Climate Negotiations, was to strengthen collaborations and knowledge sharing.

The workshop was organized by the University of Fiji in collaboration with the Ministry of iTaukei Affairs, Pacific Islands Development Forum, Linköping University, Mistra Geopolitics, and the Australian National University Institute for Climate, Energy & Disaster Solutions. In his presentation, Professor Björn-Ola Linnér stated that there was increasing attention in international discussions across academia, politics and media to the geopolitical aspects of the climate negotiations.

“In the wake of the pandemic, we clearly could see how the geopolitical shifts in the world started to also affect the climate negotiations both for the better and for worse. We could see a larger self-interest from countries keeping the vaccine to themselves, which created distrust, but we could also see an emerging focus on what we rebuild and in a way what we can do to achieve the Paris Agreement,” Professor Linnér said to the Fiji Sun.